What happened
During a flight involving a landing at Temora Aerodrome, the pilot landed on runway 18, which was closed at the time. Prior to the flight, the pilot had reviewed NOTAMs using AvPlan but had marked the notice regarding the closure of runway 18/36 as 'read' because it was deemed irrelevant to the initial flight plan. This practice of dismissing notices meant the information was not actively referenced during the flight.
Upon touchdown on runway 18, the pilot encountered unserviceability markers, specifically cones, placed at the entrances to a works area. Although the pilot anticipated the aircraft could stop before reaching these cones, they did not immediately investigate the reason for their presence or consider potential hazards like runway holes. The pilot elected to continue the landing rather than performing a go-around.
The investigation
The investigation examined the visibility and compliance of runway markings. While unserviceability crosses were present along runway 18/36, they did not meet the requirements of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations Part 139 Manual of Standards (MOS). Specifically, the 6-metre-long lines were too small for the 30-metre wide runway, which required 9-metre markings. Additionally, the spacing of these markings exceeded the 300-metre limit, and the lack of temporary taxiway markings failed to properly delineate the taxi route.
These substandard markings were not clearly visible during the landing or taxiing phase. While cones were correctly placed at the works area entrances, the primary unserviceability markers were difficult to detect until the aircraft had already touched down.
Findings
- The pilot's pre-flight habit of marking certain NOTAMs as 'read' led to the dismissal of the runway closure notice.
- The pilot did not re-evaluate the NOTAMs when the flight plan changed during the approach.
- The unserviceability markings on the runway were not compliant with the MOS regarding size and spacing.
- The pilot chose to continue the landing after encountering unexpected markers on the runway instead of initiating a go-around.